Georgia Celebrates Peach Ice Cream Day

By Dallas Duncan

From left: Georgie Grown, Commissioner Gary W. Black, Caroline Black of
Jaemor Farms, Stratton Leopold of Leopold's Ice Cream, Duke Lane of Lane
Southern Orchards, Gov. Nathan Deal, Robert Dickey of Dickey Farms, First
Lady Sandra Deal and Secretary of State Brian Kemp

Gov. Nathan Deal declared Thursday, July 17, 2014, as Georgia Peach Ice Cream Day, and the crowd turned out in force to celebrate in style.

“There’s not a bad day to have ice cream,” Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary W. Black said. “It’s never a good day unless you’ve had ice cream, that’s the way I think.”

Stratton Leopold of Leopold’s Ice Cream in Savannah, Ga., drove all the way to the state Capitol with two ice cream jerks and a heaping amount of fresh, Georgia-made peach ice cream to commemorate the day. He was joined by peach growers Rep. Robert Dickey of Dickey Farms in Roberta, Ga.; Duke Lane of Lane Southern Orchards in Fort Valley, Ga.; and Caroline Black of Jaemor Farms in Alto, Ga.

“Leopold’s Ice Cream was absolutely delicious,” said Belle Doss, assistant clerk for administrative services for the Georgia House of Representatives. “It was a perfect way to celebrate Peach Ice Cream Day.”

Doss said it was great seeing producers come out to the event, and so was Leopold.

Leopold's peach ice cream, made with Georgia peaches

“I can’t wait to get back in touch with them. We want to have peach ice cream for as much of the season as we can,” Leopold said.

The commissioner unveiled a new GeorgiaGrown locator app during the event and demonstrated how Georgians craving Peach State ice cream can enter their zip code or location and get directions to the nearest location to satiate their craving.

First Lady Sandra Deal said she was thrilled to see so many come out and support Georgia’s ice cream and peach industries.

“We are thankful for our cream, our milk that makes our ice cream so good and we are just so grateful that all of you have come today to enjoy it as they share it with us today,” she told attendees. “Thank you for being Georgia peaches and enjoying Georgia ice cream.”

See Georgia Peach Ice Cream Day in action on our new YouTube channel!